Doctor Who might be mainly known for its time-and-space traveling and monster-thwarting exploits, but the long-running BBC sci-fi show also has the surprising ability to plunge its figurative hand into our collective hearts and crush it without a second's thought.

David Tennant, Billie Piper, Matt Smith and the gang, including writers Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat, have all induced tears from the millions that watch, with many memorable moments to not quite enjoy, but to have a good old sob over.

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Sit back and get those hankies at the ready...

1. The Tenth Doctor saves Caecilius

The Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble were having a jolly old time in 2008's 'The Fires of Pompeii' until they discovered what was about to happen to the city of Pompeii (clue: Boom!) and befriended a local family.

The Thick of It's Peter Capaldi (no clue what happened to him...) played Caecilius and, while the Doctor should've left him and his family to die to preserve history, they were saved from the eruption of Vesuvius after a heartfelt and beautifully-played plea from Catherine Tate to the Time Lord.

She cried, he cried, we all cried. Love a happy ending.

2. Rose's dad dies saving the universe

Early on in Christopher Eccleston's fantastic run as the Ninth Doctor, we quickly learned that getting a kick in the feels was going to be a regular event.

'Father's Day' delivered the first of many such moments. Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) wanted to travel back to 1987, not to witness Rick Astley at the height of his career or to stop The Smiths splitting up, but to be with her dad Pete when he died (as her mum Jackie had told her he'd died alone after being hit by a car).

Of course, Rose can't resist her natural urge to instead prevent Pete's death, but her actions open a dirty tear in the fabric of time leading to the appearance of time-feeding and people-munching monsters, the Reapers.

Pete eventually work out that it's his continued existence which is causing all the havoc and sacrifices himself, meaning Rose got her wish to be with him when he passed. Excuse us a moment, something in our eye...

3. Van Gogh visits the future

Despite the use of once-popular beat combo Athlete, this closing moment in 2010's 'Vincent and the Doctor' still manages to pack a huge emotional punch.

Throughout the story (written by Love Actually's Richard Curtis), the titular artist is bravely battling mental health issues while companion Amy is also coming to terms with "loss" of her fiancé Rory, even though his existence had been wiped from time and her memory.

As a treat, the Doctor takes Vincent to present-day France where the artist looks upon his legacy in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris; van Gogh can barely comprehend as a curator (played by Bill Nighy) extols the virtues of the painter's "ecstatic beauty".

4. Donna's memory is erased

Catherine Tate's Donna was a revelation in series 4. All too commonly, we talk about people and their 'journeys' but the temp from Chiswick's travels with the Doctor displayed a real transformation and growth, and what a terrific actress Tate really is.

But Donna wasn't to get a happy ending. After becoming part Time Lord/part human (something that never should happen), her brain began to burn up, leaving the Doctor to save her life by erasing her memory of all traces of their time together.

Her evolution undone. The promise of what could be was destroyed; no dazzling end for her.

Even more heartbreaking was the fact that Tate said that she would have stayed on with Doctor Who had another series been offered. What might have been...

5. The Ninth Doctor sends Rose back to Earth

After saving her from the Daleks, the Ninth Doctor did the double and sent his travelling buddy Rose back to the safety of London by tricking her into the TARDIS in the 2005 finale, 'The Parting of the Ways'.

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"I promised to look after you, and that's what I'm doing," his hologram tells an unwilling Rose as Nine goes on to tell her to "bury" the TARDIS and forget him. By the time he signs off by telling Rose to have a "fantastic life", the Kleenex box was empty.

(Of course, there was to be another goodbye, this one in person, between the pair later on.)

6. The Tenth Doctor doesn't wanna go

The Tenth Doctor's finale, 'The End of Time', had more than its fair share of heartbreaking moments. A cafe chat between David Tennant and Bernard Cribbins was surprisingly touching, as the vulnerable Time Lord admitted he'd gone off the rails and dwelled on his own mortality.

Then, pretty much the entire last 20 minutes of Ten's swansong was a blub-fest. But his own fight against regeneration was the clincher for millions of fans across the world. His final four words, each a dagger in our collective ears and hearts, rendered us incoherent and inconsolable.

Thankfully, everything turned out all right in the end, with Matt Smith proving to be yet another brilliant Doctor.

7. The Eleventh Doctor's farewell speech

8. The Tenth Doctor and Rose are separated by the Void

'Doomsday' was an aptly-named episode. For lovers of Ten (Tennant) and Rose (Piper) the moment had come, but it definitely hand't been prepared for.

The finale to the 2006 series saw the couple fight the Daleks and Cybermen but there was a price to pay – Rose was left stranded in a parallel universe, unable to to return to Earth (well, until she managed it two years later).

Separated forever(-ish), the Doctor and his beloved companion met by way of hologram on a beach (Bad Wolf Bay), the Time Lord burning up a sun just to say goodbye. The old romantic.

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Sadly, for Miss Tyler and the audience, her moving "I love you!" was unrequited, leaving a bereft and devastated Ten in the TARDIS. Still gets us after all these years...

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